


Iris Jade

by crystalblinks (orphan_account)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (in a way), Alternate Universe, Bisexual Barry Allen, Bisexual Female Character of Color, Black Character(s), Bottom Barry, Coming Out, Drag Queen Barry, Drag Queens, Exhibitionism, F/F, F/M, First Meetings, Friends With Benefits, Heavy Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Love Triangles, M/M, Marijuana, Open Relationships, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Character Death, Platonic Sex, Secrets, Semi-Public Sex, Smoking, drag kings, night club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-27 10:44:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7614940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/crystalblinks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Drag doesn't pay the bills."</p><p>Barry Allen spends his days as a forensic scientist and adoring uncle and his nights as a drag queen named Iris Jade. When he begins dating an attractive lawyer and sleeping with his best friend, his carefully crafted world starts to crumble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drag Goggles

“Barry?” The scratchy high-pitched voice called out, followed by the clack of heels down the cement steps. He sighed heavily, wiping the thick makeup from his cheeks. There were very few moments of silence in the club and even then, they were all accented by the constant thump of the bassline. “Barry darling? Are you down in the hole?” The owner of the voice, poked her head in the doorway, all big blonde wig and overdrawn lips. “Are you up for a repeat performance?” 

“You know I have to work in the morning.” He spoke, while stripping from the skin tight dress he’d been performing in all night. Barry, who’d worked at Lolita’s long enough to get his own dressing room, nicknamed ‘The Hole’ had one rule. Once the heels came off, they didn’t go back on. 

“Day job, shmay-job, you know you’d do this full time if you could.” 

“Drag doesn’t pay the bills.” He sighed, pulling of his wig cap.

“Only because you insist on living on the nice side of town.” Cookie scoffed at him. She, and one of his other friends from the club, lived in the apartment building two blocks away. And while Barry saw Lolita’s as a safe haven, he wouldn’t live in this neighborhood even if it was his very last choice, besides if Joe knew he even worked out here he’d probably drag him back home by his wig.

“The only reason you don’t have a day job is because you’re courting that rich dick from Keystone.” A light blush tinted Cookie’s coffee colored cheeks at the mention of the man she met online a few months ago. He’d paid her drag expenses and her bills for services that Barry dared not to ask her about..

“More like his bank account is courting me.”

“What are you going to do if he wants more out of your relationship?”

“Hope he croaks first.” Barry shook his head and began packing his bags, so he could get home before the judgemental doorman started his shift. “Oh, don’t forget you have a performance tomorrow.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Some chicks birthday party, booked the whole club.” She waved her hand in the air, long neon acrylics catching Barry’s eye. 

“You know I don't do birthday parties anymore.”

“It was a special request, which means extra special money in your pocket.” He scowled at Cookie, even though she was right, he really couldn't pass up the bonuses that always came with a special request.

“This better not be another Gina situation, I still haven’t found someone to repair those red stilettos.”

“My advice, wear shorter heels.” Cookie spoke sagely, before disappearing into the hallway, the clack of her heels fading into the music.

***

He dropped his bag in the doorway of his apartment, and drifted to the couch, too exhausted to even think about the fact that it was only 2:00pm. He had to babysit for Eddie before he had to be at the club, and while he enjoyed Fiona, he needed his energy for tonight, when he’d be dealing with a grabby birthday girl. Barry resolved to get some sleep before the rest of his day came crashing down on him, but the ringing of the doorbell let him know that his attempt to rest was futile. 

The door opened, only because Eddie remembered he had a key to Barry’s apartment. Little feet rushed up to him, where he was splayed across the white leather sofa. “Is Uncle Barry asleep Daddy?” Fiona asked, her face covering his line of sight. He loved his niece, the way she could light up his world, it reminded him of her mother. 

“Not anymore.” Eddie chuckled, setting Fiona’s things next to Barry’s bag. He glanced at his watch and grimaced, he hated being late for work, mostly because Captain Singh and Joe would be on his ass. “I’ll pick you up at 6, Fi.”

“Don’t work too late, I’m meeting some friends at 7.” He murmured from where he was pressed into the cushion. Eddie waved in acknowledgement, before exiting the apartment.

Barry rose slowly from the couch, met with Fiona’s smiling face. “Hey Penguin.” He pulled her onto his lap, bouncing her slightly on his leg. “You want to help me pick out a dress for my show tonight?” She squeals and claps excitedly. There were only two people outside of the club who knew Barry did drag. One of them was dead, and the other was eight. He had made a pact with Fiona that he’d let her pick his performance dresses if she didn’t tell Joe or Eddie, she’d come close to spilling the beans once or twice, but ultimately, his secret was kept secret. 

He lead Fiona to his spare room, where he kept all of his drag stuff. Fiona sat down at the vanity, eyeballing the pictures that framed his mirror. One of his favorites was of him, Cookie (whose name was actually Benny) and his sister Yolanda who also worked at the club as a drag king named Hal Berry. They were all in drag standing in front of Lolita’s holding up the poster for their first joint show. He’d only been doing drag for four years when that picture was taken, when he was still new to the drag scene, but that picture signaled the moment he knew that the club was where he belonged.

“Pink or White?” Barry asked her, grabbing two dresses from his closet, one a sequins tube dress in varying pinks and the other a strapless tea length. 

Fiona just rolled her eyes and shifted in her chair. “Wear the green one.” 

“You’re going to have to be more specific.” 

“Your Ariel dress!” Barry nodded and began searching for the dress. It was a backless satin mermaid dress that he received almost nine years ago from Iris. It was just days after she’d found him in her bedroom wearing her wedding dress and lipstick. He’d shunned her afterwards avoiding her at all costs, and when he came home from school the dress was sitting on his bed along with a note that said ‘Come talk to me when you’re ready.’ Fiona always said that it was her favorite dress, even though she rarely ever picked it. He figured that it was just one of those mother daughter coincidences, but Fiona had never met Iris, yet every time he was around the girl it was as if his best friend was right there next to him. 

***

“Can I do my make-up in here?” Yolanda asked, leaning in the doorframe of Barry’s dressing room, grey joggers resting low on her hips. She was holding her make-up in one hand and her suit in the other, which meant that she had plans to do more than just apply her foundation. While her brother was Barry’s first friend in the drag scene, he’d always felt as if he’d connected with Yolanda a bit more, her mellow nature was always welcomed along with her smile.

“Sure.” Barry moved from where he sat at the vanity, perfecting the last few touches on his look. He walked over to the full mirror that rested on the other wall and examined his outfit. His wig, scarlet and curly fell down to his bust line, and according to Cookie his face was ‘beat’. The dress was still a perfect fit, not that he’d changed much since high school. Even at 28 he was still that scrawny science kid. 

He heard Yolanda shuffling around in her bag. “You wanna come back to the apartment with me tonight?” 

Barry shrugged. “Is Kat going to be there?” 

“Nah, she’ll probably be spending the night over Veronica’s.” Barry looked her over, he knew that Yolanda and Kat had a open relationship, and he often found himself in Yolanda’s bed, but over the past month he found himself there more often. 

“Do you go on before or after me?” 

“Before, so the door will be unlocked.” Barry turned towards her, only to find that she had finished her make-up, and started her transformation into Hal. He loved her drag, the way she could go from flawless femininity to effortless masculinity, and still be so organic. He found it sexy, intoxicating and insanely irresistible. 

***

The man had caught his eye. It was rare for Barry to zero in on anyone in his audience, their facial expressions could rock his confidence, but the man with cold glasz eyes had caught his attention, and him later that evening. 

He made his way through the club after his performance, greeting the birthday girl Lisa, who hadn’t once grabbed at him from the bottom of the stage. His feet were killing him, so Barry decided to remove his shoes before walking down to the hole, when he made too quick of a turn towards the stairs. A strong hand caught him and pulled him up, and the hand belonged to the man in the audience who had caught his eye. “Watch out Iris.” He said, referring to Barry’s drag name. 

The man smiled at him before pulling him upright. “That was a great performance.”

“Can’t go wrong with Whitney.” Barry chuckled slightly causing the man to smile a bit more. He noticed how the man’s hand lingered on his forearm, he also noticed the fact that he hadn’t moved his arm either. “Did your friend enjoy the show?”

“Yeah, my sister just loves drag shows and she finally convinced me to come see one for her birthday.” The man looked Barry up and down in a way that made Barry wish he hadn’t tucked that night. 

“I’m glad she did.” The man smirked and before he could open his mouth he heard a woman (most likely Lisa) call him.

“I have to go, but have dinner with me sometime.” Barry blushed as the man handed him a card and walked away. He watched him go and then turned to walk down the stairs, thankful that he hadn’t heeded Cookie’s advice and worn shorter heels.

***

When he arrived at her apartment, Yolanda was lounging topless on the couch smoking a joint while The Internet played in the background. “I met a guy.” Barry said, collapsing on the couch next to her.

“So no sex tonight?” 

“There will be sex, but I need to talk first.” She sighed and sat up straight, motioning for him to sit in her lap, something they did often. “He was in the audience tonight, business suit, shaved head.”

“Was he sitting next to the birthday girl?” 

“Yeah. And he literally caught me before I fell down the stairs and chatted me up and fuck his voice Anda, and he gave me his business card and asked me to dinner.”

“He looked rich, go eat steak, fuck in his Ferrari.” 

“You’re starting to sound like Benny.” She shrugged and passed him the joint. “But he’s seen me in drag and what happens when we see each other in the light of day and he hates me.”

“No one could hate you Barry, you’re like a sexy puppy, and besides the guy obviously has to be prepared to remove the drag goggles. It’ll work out, just relax.” Yolanda wrapped his arms around him and placed light kisses to his neck while he took a long drag from the joint.

They sat in silence for a few moments, letting the smoke and the music surround them as they passed the joint in between sloppy kisses. Yolanda quickly flipped them around so Barry was straddling her, one arm wrapped around her neck. “I really want to fuck you.” She whispered and pulled him into another kiss, and then into her bed.


	2. Shameless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where shit hits the fan.

They started with coffee. Mostly because Barry was traditional and he wanted to get at least five dates out the way before he slept with Len. So they started with coffee, and then lunch then progressed to the previously promised dinner, which ended in sex. And while Barry never moved this fast with anyone, there was something about Len that made him want to move into the older man’s penthouse and live happily ever after. 

But then there was Yolanda, who he had know for almost eight years, the woman who gave him his first jar of banana powder and could hold intellectual conversations with in between rounds of sex. Barry had found himself living in her apartment for the last few weeks, experimenting with all of the toys in her top drawer and smoking all her weed. 

Barry, who tried not to think about the fact that he had once again split his life in two, was sitting in a fancy restaurant across from Len trying not to have a heart attack when he had fully processed what his date had just said. 

“You want to what now?”

“I want to meet your friends, the ones from the club that keep you out all night.” Len chuckled and took a sip of his wine, his eyes dancing in amusement. Barry was hoping he could avoid the meet the friends section, because meeting the friends meant meeting Yolanda, and meeting Yolanda meant Len finding out about the nature of their relationship, it also meant losing her, and as much as he tried to ignore it, there was a part of him who couldn’t live without her. 

“Benny is having a fourth of July party next Saturday.”

“I’ll go if I don't have to work.” He smiled sadly, Len worked long days at his law firm, and while he was doing good work sometimes it got in the way of their plans.

“You can meet them then.” Barry reached out for the bottle of wine before quickly drawing his hand back. He saw Len raise his eyebrow, his expression begging for an explanation when Barry’s phone rang. The Martin theme song, (which he had changed Yolanda’s ringtone to after she made him binge watch the show with her) filled the restaurant causing all of the tables around them to turn their noses up at Barry. 

“Sorry, it's Yolanda, I have to take this.” He shrugged apologetically before walking out into the lobby of the restaurant, ignoring the glares he got from the maitre d. The fact that Yolanda had called him during his lunch date meant that she either wanted to bump up their meeting time for that afternoon, or that something was very wrong. “Anda?”

“I need you.”

“For sex or for support?” There was a pregnant pause that had Barry dashing out of the restaurant and heading towards the nearest bus stop. 

“Support.” She rasped into the phone before hanging up, leaving Barry standing in the middle of the street, distraught.

***

When Barry made it to Yolanda’s apartment he found the door unlocked and wide open. He heard soft music playing, and followed the trail to the bedroom, where Yolanda was sitting on the bed, cross-legged and staring at a bottle of hennessy. “Did you drink any?” He asked, searching her face. 

Tears fell down her face as she shook her head. Barry grabbed the bottle and took it out of the house, making a note to search the rest of the apartment for anymore bottles, he didn’t want her relapsing like she tended to do when she was hurt. When he made his way back into the room Yolanda hadn’t moved. “Kat left me.” She choked out, not meeting Barry’s eyes. “She’s in love with Veronica.” Barry quickly slid onto the bed and wrapped his arms around his sobbing friend. “Things had been rough lately, but I didn’t think she’d ever leave you know? That’s nine years of our lives that she just flushed down the toilet, and I-I thought we were gonna be forever.”

Barry peppered kisses along her hairline, while pushing her curls out of her face. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I know that, but right now it just hurts.” She started crying quietly into his shoulder, so Barry did the only thing he could think of, he removed all of their clothes, pulled her closer towards him, and held her until she fell asleep.

***

He woke up in Yolanda’s apartment with 15 missed calls from Len, all of them accompanied by voicemails that ranged from anger to understanding. After he had breakfast, which consisted of a glass of orange juice, eggs and Yolanda, he made his way to his house, if only to shower and change his clothes. Barry had just emerged from his bathroom when he heard the door open and someone call out his name. 

“Bare! We need your help!” Eddie called, his voice cracking with fear. When Barry reached the living room he saw Fiona splayed out on his couch barely breathing glass littering her body. 

“What happened!?” He asked kneeling at the foot of the couch, with his fingers on Fiona’s neck, taking her pulse.

“This lady ran into us on our way to Joe’s and your apartment was closer than a hospital and I know you’re not a doctor but I can’t lose Fiona.” Barry took a moment to look at Eddie, how disheveled he looked with cuts on his face, and his hand covered in Fiona’s blood. The only other time he’d ever seen his friend like this was at the hospital when Iris gave birth, holding his wife’s limp hand and his daughter. “I can’t lose her too.” 

“Go get tylenol and peroxide from the bathroom.” Barry instructed Eddie as he moved onto the couch to get a better look at Fiona’s injuries. “And my tweezers and sewing kit from the spare room.” Barry’s head snapped up when he had fully processed where he had sent Eddie to. Eddie emerged from the room with a deep frown on his face, holding all of the necessary items. 

“Eddie I can explain.” The blonde man raised up a hand and gave Barry what he needed. 

“Help my daughter first, and then we’ll discuss what’s in your spare room.”

***

They did discuss. For hours and hours, long after Fiona had been sent off in an ambulance accompanied by Joe singing the wheels on the bus song, because it calmed the young girl down. Eddie, who was never as open to Barry’s sexuality as Iris and Joe were, saw this a personal betrayal, and refused to let Barry babysit Fiona. So Joe started bringing her to his apartment whenever he was scheduled to watch her, so Barry could see his niece. 

It was hard on all of them, and Barry, who had one less divide in his life, now felt as if his heart was shattered into pieces. He found some solace in Len’s arms and in between Yolanda’s legs, but even that peace didn't last long.

The party was at Cookie’s boyfriend's house, which really wasn't a house, but a mansion in the rich part of Central City. Barry was glad that Len had an expensive looking car, because showing up at this place via bus wouldn’t have been the best first impression. The giant doors were opened by a butler who directed them towards a large room that was already filled to the brim with people dancing to loud party music. Cookie spotted them and strutted over in festive garb and a giant wig that had been dyed red white and blue. Barry had decided not to go to the party in full drag, just a red lip and blue liner, if only to make Len feel more comfortable. 

“Barry!” Cookie hugged him tightly and then glanced over at Len. “Is this gorgeous man Leonard?” Cookie crossed over towards him and placed her hand on Len’s chest, rubbing ever so slightly. 

Barry was about to remove her hand when Yolanda came over, in a sheer black crop top and olive green joggers that Barry was absolutely positive belonged to him. She pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss, and Barry instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist. When they finally parted, Yolanda smirked at him and turned towards Len. “It’s nice to meet you, Len. I’m Yolanda.”

Ever the charmer, Len smiled and greeted her before rushing off under the guise of getting a drink. Cookie whistled and shook her head at Barry and Yolanda before walking off towards her boyfriend Albert who was so old that he had been present during colonization. 

Yolanda intertwined herself with Barry and pressed him into the far wall where everyone could see. “How would you feel if I got you off right here in front of your boyfriend, made you come harder than he ever could. I can make you feel better than he can.” She nipped at his ear, while her hands roamed his body and played with the waistband of his jeans. Barry who wanted to fuss at Yolanda for the display, was suddenly overwhelmed with the sensation of her being there, of being at her mercy. “Let me make you feel good, love.” 

“Anda, Len is here and he doesn’t know.” She pulled him into a kiss to silence him, nipping at his lip while they kissed. He was so lost in the overwhelming cloud of ‘Yolanda’ that when a voice, one that he’d found so intriguing when he first heard it called his name he barely registered it. 

“What don’t I know Barry?”


	3. Red Velvet

Barry broke the kiss and snapped his head towards Len, looking at his glasz eyes, how sad and angry they were, how absolutely wrecked he looked in that moment. 

“Babe, I can explain.” Barry sputtered, not because he didn’t know what to say, but because Yolanda was sucking and biting his neck and she knew that he couldn’t think straight when she did that. “We’re just friends with benefits.” He felt Yolanda pause her task when he said that but Barry was already in trouble, he wasn’t going to make it worse by reading too much into Yolanda’s actions.

“And you weren’t going to tell me about that?”

“I was, eventually.” Barry took a deep breath. “It’s just that I know you wouldn’t be okay with it, so I was waiting for the right moment.”

“So embarrassing me in front of your friends is ‘the right moment?” Barry had never seen so much anger on Len’s face, not even when they talked about him leaving their lunch date and then not calling him back. “This isn’t...I can’t be with you if you’re not completely devoted Barry. I don’t participate in open relationships.”

“Lenny!” Barry whined, partly because of Yolanda’s wandering fingers, and partly because he was losing his boyfriend. Len turned away from him, and Barry wondered if that would be the last time he saw the strong expanse of Len’s back or heard his voice. 

“Call me when you figure it out.” 

***

Later that night, Barry found himself in one of Albert’s spare rooms, wrapped around Yolanda, breathing heavily as he came down from his orgasum. They’d done what they usually did when they were somewhere that wasn’t Yolanda’s apartment, she tied him to the headboard and rode him until he saw stars in her chocolate eyes. 

When they were finished, she pulled him closer to her and began mapping his freckles with her long caramel fingers. Barry looked at her in amazement, studying the curves and dips of her body, the stretch marks that littered her hips and the coils that fell down to her shoulders. He wanted to memorize everything about her, the way she kissed, the way her voice would rasp when she smoked, the singing voice that she only shared with him and Benny. 

Barry was tracing her birthmark, the one that covered her left thigh when she spoke. “You’re going to pick him aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “I get it. He’s stable, respectable, he can buy you things and take you to fancy ass restaurants. He’s...perfect.”  

Barry brought a hand up to her face, his thumb sliding over her cheek bone. “What if I want to pick you?”

Yolanda smiled and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. “My door is always open.” She pulled him against her, so his head was nuzzled into her shoulder, her breath drawing lazy patterns across his neck. He listened to her breathing until she fell asleep, the sound of her quiet snores, lulling him into his own dreams. 

*** (Two Months Later)

Barry hadn’t spoken to anyone since the party. He rushed off to Keystone to stay with his old college buddy Cisco who needed a roommate until his lease was up. So Barry filled the vacant space in the cramped apartment, and spent most of his days trying not to call Yolanda. The only reason he had come back to town was because Eddie had called him so they could talk, and in the end work it out. He didn’t tell Eddie that he’d done drag in Keystone and Eddie didn’t ask, he just hugged him and told him he missed him, before letting Fiona fawn over her Uncle Barry. 

He sat rigidly on Yolanda’s couch, not draped over the side like he usually was. For some reason Barry was full of nerves. He knew that Yolanda’s offer of an open door wasn’t one that was made for forever, he knew that by the way she looked at him when she said it. Barry didn’t want to just swoop back into her life and find out that she had moved on. The thought of Yolanda coming home with a new girlfriend on her arm made Barry want to throw up all over the couch. But in the end, he was the one who left, he knew that there would be consequences. 

Barry had been waiting for four hours when Yolanda walked into the apartment, her afro sticking up in every direction, and her shoulders slumped. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was the cause of that, but he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. When she saw him she didn’t even look shocked, she just took a seat next to him on the couch. 

“I missed you Anda. I missed us.” She scoffed at his word before speaking.

“Well, I’m pissed as fuck at you, but it goes against everything I believe in to punch you in the face.” She hadn’t made eye contact with him, she was just staring at her jean covered legs. “I know you needed healing, but you could’ve text me or called me and... I had to start going back to meetings so I wouldn’t relapse because you were being selfish.” 

Barry opened his mouth but Yolanda held up a hand to silence him. “I thought that it wouldn’t hurt, that it would be like it always was, we’d fuck, we’d smoke and then we’d talk and honestly you made me fuckimg feel...things for you and then you just walked away and I hate you for it.” Yolanda stopped to breathe. She looked up at him with glassy eyes and all Barry wanted to do was wipe her tears away. 

“What do I need to do to fix this?” 

She looked surprised at his question and sighed. “We’ll have to talk this out, and have feeling discussions and then...” Yolanda paused and looked Barry in the eye, trying to gauge his reaction, “You can take me out, to dinner or something. Buy me weed and then let me eat cake off your abs.” 

Barry who knew what the implications of dinner meant to Yolanda, pulled her into a bone crushing hug, which she returned with equal force. “What kind of cake?” Yolanda burst out laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end! Thank you all so much for reading and commenting!  
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> If it helps, after Barry and Yolanda get together he moves in with her and they buy Lolita's together from it's current owner. Also Albert does croak and Cookie/Benny inherits all his money.


End file.
